Guides · State programs · By FastTrack Advising

Dual Credit in Missouri, explained for parents

Published September 18, 2026

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Missouri separates the two terms by rule. Dual credit is a college course taught in the high school by an approved high school teacher, and dual enrollment is the same credit taught by college faculty. Juniors and seniors usually need a 3.0 GPA, or 2.5 with a recommendation, and families pay the college's reduced rate.

Who: Juniors and seniors at a 3.0 GPA, or 2.5 to 2.99 with a recommendation; younger students by exception
The two words: Dual credit is taught by a high school teacher, dual enrollment by college faculty, both defined in 6 CSR 10-2.195
Tuition: Set by each college. St. Louis Community College charges $25 a credit hour; Metropolitan Community College charges half its campus rate
State help: The Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment Scholarship, for students at 2.5 GPA who also meet an economic need test
Scholarship dates: October 1 priority for fall and February 1 for spring, with final dates of December 1 and April 1
Runs through: The Coordinating Board for Higher Education, with DHEWD administering the scholarship

The two words Missouri uses, and why the difference shows up on your bill

State rule 6 CSR 10-2.195 defines dual credit as a college-level course taught by a high school instructor to high school students who earn both high school and college credit, whether in person, online, or hybrid. Dual enrollment is defined as the same college-level work taught by postsecondary faculty, on the college campus, online, or at the high school, where the student earns college credit and may or may not earn high school credit.

The distinction is not cosmetic. It decides who the instructor of record is, which usually decides the price, and it sometimes decides whether the course appears on the high school transcript. A parent who asks whether a course is dual credit or dual enrollment, and gets a confident answer, has learned more in ten seconds than a course catalog will tell them.

Providers have to be approved. The Coordinating Board designates approved dual credit providers, and the department publishes the list each year. A course from a provider on that list is built to move within Missouri. A course from somewhere else may still be fine, and it is worth asking why it is not on the list.

The GPA tiers, by grade

Missouri institutions work from Coordinating Board eligibility standards, and they step down by grade. Juniors and seniors qualify at a 3.0 cumulative GPA, or between 2.5 and 2.99 with a recommendation from a teacher or counselor. Sophomores need a 3.0 plus a counselor recommendation. Freshmen need a qualifying ACT or SAT score, or a 3.0 plus a counselor recommendation.

Individual colleges then set their own line, and the lines are not identical. Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City states that students below a 2.5 are generally not eligible and asks for parent, counselor, and principal signatures in the 2.5 to 2.99 band. St. Louis Community College admits sophomores through seniors at a 2.0 unweighted GPA for its own dual credit courses. Both are legitimate; they are answering different questions.

The practical reading is that the awarding college's page is the one that governs, and the recommendation letter is a real instrument rather than a formality. A student sitting at 2.7 in the spring of sophomore year is a phone call away from eligibility, and that call is easier to make in March than in August.

What it costs

Missouri sets no statewide price, so the range is wide. St. Louis Community College charges $25 a credit hour, which makes a typical three-credit course about $75. Metropolitan Community College charges half the rate a student would pay on one of its campuses. Some districts pay the whole bill, some split it, and some pass it through.

Books are handled locally too. At Metropolitan Community College the high school provides the required books in many cases, and dual credit students cannot use federal financial aid while they are still in high school, so whatever is left is paid out of pocket.

What we tell families in Missouri is to get one number before signing anything: the total for the term, tuition plus fees plus books, from the school rather than from the college catalog. Districts vary enough here that the state average is useless to any particular family, and the district secretary usually knows the figure in thirty seconds.

The scholarship that covers the bill for some families

The Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment Scholarship comes from the act at RSMo 173.2505, passed in 2016 and amended in 2022. A student qualifies with a cumulative unweighted high school GPA of at least 2.5, Missouri residency, enrollment with an approved provider, and one indicator of economic need.

Those indicators are specific. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch counts. So does foster care, state wardship, homelessness under the McKinney-Vento definition, family receipt of SNAP, WIC, or Medicaid, and living in federally subsidized public housing. One is enough.

The award equals the tuition and fees charged for the coursework after other non-loan aid is applied, so it varies with the credit load and the institution's rate. In fiscal 2026 the average award ran above $700. Applications are funded in the order received, with priority dates of October 1 for fall and February 1 for spring and final dates of December 1 and April 1.

Why your district cares whether your teen passes

Missouri districts report dual credit enrollment through MOSIS, and they report paying and non-paying students separately. Those courses feed the college and career readiness measure in MSIP 6, the state's accountability system for schools, and a student who completes the course with a qualifying grade counts toward the district's score.

That alignment is useful to know when you sit down with a counselor. The school has an institutional reason to want your teen in the course and to want them to pass it, which means a request for tutoring, a schedule change, or a placement retest is a request the school benefits from granting.

How far the credit travels

The Coordinating Board rebuilt Missouri's dual credit policy to align with the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships and the Higher Learning Commission, and the central requirement is that an instructor holds a degree at least one level above the course being taught. That credential rule is the reason a small high school's dual credit list is short.

The scale is substantial. About 33 Missouri colleges and universities offer dual credit at roughly 600 high schools, enrolling more than 40,000 students a year. Inside Missouri, credit from an approved provider is designed to transfer to other public institutions.

Outside Missouri the receiving college decides on its own terms, and a course taught in a high school classroom sometimes gets read differently than one taught on a campus. If your teen is aiming out of state, put that question to the target institution's registrar while there is still time to change the plan.

Questions to ask your counselor

Bring these to the first meeting. The answers decide most of the plan.

Which college awards the credit for each of these courses, and is it on the state's approved dual credit provider list?
Is this course dual credit or dual enrollment, and who is the instructor of record?
What does our district pay toward dual credit tuition, and what is the total our family owes for a term?
Does my teen meet the GPA tier for their grade, or do we need a recommendation on file first?
Has anyone here helped a family file the Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment Scholarship, and which deadline are we aiming at?
Which of these courses sit in the college's general education core rather than counting as electives?

Frequently asked

Is dual credit free in Missouri?

Rarely. Each college sets its own rate, and St. Louis Community College charges $25 a credit hour, about $75 for a three-credit course. Some districts pay the bill. The state's Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment Scholarship covers tuition and fees for students who meet the 2.5 GPA and an economic need test.

What GPA do you need for dual credit in Missouri?

Juniors and seniors need a 3.0, or 2.5 to 2.99 with a teacher or counselor recommendation. Sophomores need a 3.0 plus a counselor recommendation, and freshmen need a qualifying ACT or SAT score or a 3.0 with a recommendation. Colleges may set their own line.

What is the difference between dual credit and dual enrollment in Missouri?

Who teaches it. Under 6 CSR 10-2.195, dual credit is a college course delivered by a qualified high school instructor, and dual enrollment is a college course delivered by postsecondary faculty. The label often changes the price.

Can a freshman or sophomore take dual credit in Missouri?

Yes, by exception. A sophomore needs a 3.0 and a counselor recommendation; a freshman needs a qualifying ACT or SAT score or a 3.0 with a recommendation. St. Louis Community College opens its dual credit courses to sophomores.

How do we apply for the Missouri Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment Scholarship?

Through the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development. Priority dates are October 1 for fall and February 1 for spring, applications close December 1 and April 1, and awards are funded in the order they arrive.

Do Missouri dual credit courses transfer?

Within Missouri, coursework from a state-approved dual credit provider is built to move between public institutions. Colleges in other states evaluate the transcript on their own terms, so ask the target institution before your teen builds a schedule around it.

Sources

Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, Dual Credit · the 6 CSR 10-2.195 definitions and the approved provider list
DHEWD, Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment Scholarship for students · the 2.5 GPA, the economic need indicators, the award basis, and the deadlines
Revised Statutes of Missouri, Section 173.2505 · the Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment Scholarship Act, its 2016 origin, and the 2022 amendment
DHEWD, Missouri higher education board strengthens policy for dual credit classes · 33 institutions, about 600 high schools, more than 40,000 students, and the instructor credential rule
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Dual Credit · how districts report paying and non-paying students and how the courses count in MSIP 6
St. Louis Community College, dual credit · the $25 a credit hour rate, grades served, the 2.0 GPA, and where courses are taught
Metropolitan Community College, dual credit for high school students · the GPA bands and signatures, half the campus rate, textbooks, and the financial aid rule
Missouri State University, dual credit student eligibility · the grade-level GPA tiers as one Missouri university applies them

Rules change. These were checked September 2026. Confirm the current version with your school before you act on any of it.

About FastTrack Advising

FastTrack Advising. FastTrack Advising works on dual enrollment and nothing else. We help families choose college courses a high schooler can take now that will still count toward the degree later, we check every course against the transfer rules of the colleges they name, and we stay in the picture through registration so the plan gets used. When the answer for a student is to wait a term, we say that too.

Other state programs

All state programs

PSEO (Minnesota) Free tuition, books, and required fees for 10th through 12th graders, with a May 30 notice deadline that many families miss.
Running Start (Washington) Tuition-free college courses for juniors and seniors at Washington's community and technical colleges and a few universities. Families still pay fees and books, and the student gets to campus on their own.
College Credit Plus (Ohio) Open to 7th through 12th graders, free at Ohio public colleges for public school students, with an April 1 letter of intent and a 30-credit annual cap.
Dual credit (Texas) Each college sets its rate and each district decides how much to cover. Students who qualified for free or reduced lunch in the last five years pay nothing at colleges in the FAST program.
Dual enrollment (Florida) Tuition-free by state law, with a 3.0 unweighted GPA and a qualifying PERT, SAT, or ACT score to get in. Public school students get textbooks covered too.
Dual enrollment (California) Community college courses for 9th through 12th graders through a district partnership called CCAP, with no enrollment fees and no textbook costs, capped at 15 units a term.
Dual Enrollment (Georgia) State funding covers tuition, fees, and books for 30 semester hours, mostly for juniors and seniors. After 30 hours the family pays the college's rate, and ninth graders are outside the program entirely.
Career & College Promise (North Carolina) Tuition paid by the state at community colleges for juniors and seniors with a 2.8 unweighted GPA. Whether the district covers fees and books, and who drives, varies by district.
Concurrent Enrollment (Colorado) Open to 9th through 12th graders with an approved academic plan. The district pays tuition at the community college rate; books and fees are usually the family's, and so is getting to campus.
Dual credit (Illinois) Governed by the Dual Credit Quality Act and a model agreement between each district and college. Whether your teen pays depends on that agreement.
Early College Credit and Start College Now (Wisconsin) Two programs, one for the technical colleges and one for universities, both for juniors and seniors. The district pays most or all of the tuition, and applications are due March 1 for fall and October 1 for spring.
Dual credit (Indiana) Every Indiana high school has to offer dual credit. Priority courses at public colleges cost at most $25 a credit hour, and nothing for students on free or reduced lunch.
Dual enrollment (Michigan) Grades 9 through 12, for courses the high school doesn't offer. The district pays tuition up to a state-set share; anything above it, plus books, is yours. Ten courses across high school.
Dual Enrollment (Alabama) Rising 10th through 12th graders with a 2.5 GPA, at $133 a credit hour plus fees, with a state scholarship that covers some courses when the legislature funds it. No credit cap at all.
Dual Enrollment (Tennessee) The lottery-funded Dual Enrollment Grant pays up to $620.55 for each of the first five courses, then much less. One June 30 application covers the whole academic year.
Dual enrollment (Pennsylvania) Every school entity has to hold at least one dual credit agreement, and none of them has to pay for the courses. The agreement states the cost, and published rates run from $83.50 to $230 a credit.
Dual enrollment (Virginia) Juniors and seniors at the community colleges. Courses on a College and Career Ready Virginia pathway cost the family nothing, and courses outside it are billed at the college rate.
Dual enrollment (Arizona) A community college course taught inside the high school during the school day. Concurrent enrollment is the separate arrangement where the student goes to the college. Price is set district by district.
Dual enrollment (South Carolina) College courses through the state's 16 technical colleges, priced by each college and district, with Lottery Tuition Assistance covering part of the tuition once a student carries six credit hours in a term.
Dual enrollment (Louisiana) A Board of Regents floor for eligibility, four ways to clear it, and a bill the district assembles out of state and federal funds. TOPS Tech Early Start covers career courses for juniors and seniors.
Dual enrollment (Maryland) The Blueprint moved the bill off families for students who meet the College and Career Readiness Standard, and set a floor of two covered courses each fall and spring. Counties add their own terms on top.
Concurrent Enrollment (Utah) College courses for $5 a credit hour, taught mostly inside the high school by a college-approved teacher. Each college sets its own admission bar, and books are still yours.
Concurrent Enrollment (Oklahoma) Juniors and seniors get tuition waived by the State Regents, 18 credit hours a year for seniors and 9 for juniors. Fees and books stay with the family, and each college sets its own entrance bar.
Dual enrollment (New York) No single statewide program. CUNY's College Now is free for New York City public school students, SUNY campuses price their own, and a new state rule makes districts file their partnership agreements in 2026.
Dual enrollment (Massachusetts) Two state programs. CDEP waives tuition and fees at public campuses for eligible high schoolers, mostly in the spring, and designated Early College builds the courses into the school day at no cost.
Concurrent Enrollment (Iowa) College courses run through a district contract with a community college, at no tuition cost to the family. Iowa also runs PSEO, and the two programs treat a failed course differently.
Concurrent Credit (Arkansas) State policy bars a college from billing the family for tuition, fees, or materials on a concurrent credit course. A 2025 scholarship replaced the old Concurrent Challenge grant and pays $65 a credit hour.
Dual Enrollment and Dual Credit (Mississippi) Mississippi separates the two terms in statute. Dual enrollment earns college credit only; dual credit earns high school credit too, and the distinction decides whether the course helps your teen graduate.
Dual Enrollment (Nebraska) Nebraska has no single statewide program, so the price depends on which college your high school partners with. The ACE scholarship covers tuition and mandatory fees for students who qualify on income.
Dual Credit (New Mexico) A statewide program where the college charges no tuition and the school district buys the books. Families pay special course fees and transportation, and the guidance is two courses a semester until graduation requirements are done.
Early College (Maine) Maine pays college tuition for high schoolers through the Aspirations Program, and the class of 2027 forward gets 18 tuition-free credits for the whole of high school.
Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (New Hampshire) The state and the community colleges cover two courses a year for students in grades 10 through 12, and most of those courses are taught inside the high school.
Dual Enrollment (Vermont) Two vouchers, each covering tuition on a college course of up to four credits, for any Vermont student who has finished grade 10, including home study students.
Dual credit (West Virginia) A state-funded pilot pays tuition and academic fees for courses on approved career pathways, for public, private, charter, microschool, learning pod, and homeschool students alike.
Dual enrollment (Delaware) No statewide program makes it free. State regulation puts the policy on every district and charter, bars turning a student away over money, and most courses run through Delaware Tech.
Dual enrollment (New Jersey) No statewide free tuition. Public colleges must sign dual enrollment agreements and districts choose whether to join, so the price and the eligibility rules come from your own county college.
Dual enrollment (Connecticut) A board policy rather than a statute sets the rules. Concurrent credit courses are capped at $50 a credit, CT State covers two courses a semester for qualifying juniors and seniors, and UConn ECE has run since 1955.
Accelerated learning (Oregon) Oregon calls the whole category accelerated learning. Dual credit at the high school is free or close to it at most community colleges, and Expanded Options moves a junior or senior onto a campus at no charge to the student.
Dual enrollment (Nevada) No statewide free tuition. Districts sign cooperative agreements with NSHE colleges and each agreement names who pays, so the price runs from $25 a credit at the high school to $154 on a university campus.
Concurrent enrollment (Kansas) Concurrent enrollment means the college course is taught at the high school, and it is not free by default. Excel in CTE pays tuition for approved technical courses, and a district board may cover the rest if it chooses to.
Dual Credit (Kentucky) A $99 ceiling on what a college may charge a high school student, and a state scholarship that pays that rate for one general education course a year.
Dual Credit (Idaho) Every Idaho public school student gets $4,625 to spend on college credit between grades 7 and 12, and the fund pays $75 a credit, which is what colleges charge.
Dual Credit (North Dakota) Tuition is the family's here, at a reduced rate that changes with who teaches the course, and Bank of North Dakota covers two courses a year for students on free or reduced lunch.
Dual Credit (South Dakota) Juniors and seniors split a deeply reduced tuition rate with the state, at $80.37 a credit hour, under a statute with a hard rule about what happens if a course goes badly.
Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (Rhode Island) A state fund covers tuition and fees for part-time college courses at the three public institutions, and the statute behind it caps that fund at whatever the budget appropriates each year.
Early College and Running Start (Hawaii) Two programs run off one statute that never says who pays. Early College comes to the high school and the school usually covers it; Running Start puts the student on a UH campus at that campus’s published rate.
Dual Enrollment (Alaska) No state program and no state money behind it. What a college course costs an Alaska family depends on which University of Alaska campus offers it and whether the school district signed an agreement.
Dual Enrollment (Montana) The first two courses or six credits carry no tuition anywhere in the Montana University System, fees are waived, and everything after that costs half of resident two-year tuition, around $60 a credit.
Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (Wyoming) State law bars a college from charging a participating student for textbooks, materials, student services, or any other fee, and from 2026-27 the state starts reimbursing districts for what it costs them.

Planning Dual Credit for your teen?

Save this page and the state's deadlines show up on your own My FastTrack page, next to the tools. Which courses to take, in which order, so the credits still count at the college your teen ends up at, is the part we do with families.

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